The Boston City Council is split on releasing $3.4 million in grant funding to the investigative arm of the city’s police department.
Six of 13 councilors indicated they would vote in favor of funding the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC), but the same number cited concerns with its gang database, which the state’s attorney general is investigating for possible racial bias.
“Public safety is paramount for our city,” said Councilor Michael Flaherty, who chaired a Friday committee hearing on the matter. “I know the important role BRIC plays in each and every homicide in the city of Boston. They don’t go around tooting their own horn. It’s a team effort.”
Acknowledging the concerns from his colleagues, most of which came from councilors of color, and testimony from community members who said they have been unfairly targeted by the BRIC’s gang database, Flaherty urged police to purge the names of people who “shouldn’t be on there.”
“I think we’re all in agreement, if there’s someone on that list that should not be on that list, as the chair, on behalf of this body, that name has to come off and we need to make some adjustments,” he said. “If that’s happening, that has to stop. If it’s already stopped, obviously that’s welcome news.”
Earlier this month, Flaherty pushed for bypassing a hearing and called for an immediate vote on three $850,000 state grants, earmarked for the purpose of improving technology aimed at fighting crime, gangs and terrorism.
The funds were rejected by the City Council, 7-5, prompting Mayor Michelle Wu to refile the three grants, from fiscal years 2021-23, and file a fourth of the same amount, from FY20. The body has now voted to reject the grants three times.
Police Commissioner Michael Cox said he is “dumbfounded” that the BRIC is not “so well-received” for the work that it does, which “is so central to do what we do as a police department.”
“The work that they do is not about vilifying people of color,” Cox said. “It’s really about identifying the people who are driving the violent crime in our city, and you’re keeping track of that information.”
The funds, he said, would help to fill several gaps in BRIC’s analytical operation, by hiring eight civilian analysts, positions that would be sustained for five years. Today, the BRIC is understaffed in that area, with only one analyst per shift on duty from Friday to Monday, police officials said.
The gang database is a “relatively small part of what we do,” and the requested funding would not be directed to that component of the BRIC, according to its Deputy Director Ryan Walsh, who said three-fourths of its 52-member personnel is devoted to its anti-terrorism initiative.
Regardless of where the funding is going, city councilors who spoke in opposition were most concerned about the gang database, which critics say disproportionately tracks people of color.
“As a first-term city councilor, I can’t say I have enough information to see that you are out in our communities for good and not for discrimination,” said Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune, later adding, “I don’t see a reason to trust the data that the BRIC is collecting.”
Councilor Julia Mejia, who has called for abolishing the BRIC in the past, criticized the mayor for flipping on her past opposition.
As a city councilor, in 2021, Wu voted down one of the $850,000 grants. That year, while campaigning for mayor, she stated support for abolishing the BRIC and dismantling the gang database, but is now asking the Council to fund the entity.
“I’d love to hear from her, because if she can convince me as to why we’re doing this right now, then she might be able to provide me with some clarity on the record,” Mejia said. “Because if you want me to switch it up, you’re going to have to explain it to me. Otherwise, I’m not going there.”
Attorney General Andrea Campbell, who as a city councilor recommended that the body reject a BRIC grant in 2021, launched an investigation of the database and the police department’s gang unit this past May.
In 2019, in response to a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union, the city’s police department released data that showed of the roughly 5,000 people listed on its gang database, 66% were Black, 24% were Latino and 2% were white.
In 2021, the police department changed its rules around how names were added to the gang database. Since that time, 2,494 inactive names were removed, including 49 in 2023, 1,836 in 2022, and 609 in 2021, Walsh said.
Names are added based on “reasonable suspicion” that someone is engaging in criminal activity on behalf of an organization, Walsh said. There are 85 gangs in Boston, he said.
City Council President Ed Flynn, along with Councilors Frank Baker, Liz Breadon, Sharon Durkan, Flaherty, and Erin Murphy all indicated they would vote in favor at Friday’s hearing.
While Mejia called for another hearing, Flaherty has stated he wants to quickly call for another vote on the grants.
“I’ll take that under advisement,” he said. “I appreciate your opinion, but they’ve been waiting since 2020.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”